Monthly Archives: December 2021
How to Pray? What to Pray?
Once my Guru was at prayer. I went to him and said, “Guruji, teach me how to pray.” My Guru was known to explain anything with cryptic short stories. He narrated the following story. And, this is how he taught me how to pray… Ram and Shyam were once walking through a field when they […]
Change Your Silly Beliefs…Instead of Your Religion.
Long, long back, many, many years ago, an older woman who was an enthusiastic gardener declared that she had no faith whatsoever in assertions that someday scientists would learn to predict the weather accurately. According to her, God controls the weather and prayer was the only way to understand and forecast conditions. During one summer, […]
Having Prayers Answered at the Right Time
It’s no good having our prayers answered If they are not answered at the right time: Long, long ago, in ancient Vedic India, prayers and Hawan/Homam, one of the Vedic rites, were said to be so scientific in application that when sages and seers prayed for rain, there was never any drought in the region. […]
Analyzing Expertise
When I was a child, the word “expert” gleamed in my thoughts like a star. I thought of experts as someone special. They had higher degrees. They wrote books. They appeared on television. I assumed they had access to knowledge that the rest of us could hardly aspire to. But as I grew older, my […]
Look Around to Beat the Block
I woke up gasping for breath. It was 4am. The nightmare had startled me. I stealthily moved past my wife, Gayathri and son Harsh because it was too early in the day. After slowly sipping a glass cool water from the ‘matka’ (earthen pot), a sense of normalcy and mental equilibrium were restored. As the […]
DECIDED TO BE A WRITER? LISTENING TO MY INNER CALLING…
So… you’ve decided to be a WRITER. CONGRATS! …Or I should say… “MY DEEP CONDOLENCES” You’re in for a life time of UNCERTAINTY. Family, friends, loved ones…BE PREPARED TO LOSE THEM. This road can be a LONELY ONE But…Don’t worry, You’ll make ACQUAINTANCES. Their names are…FEAR, ANXIETY, SELF-DOUBT… They’ll be by your side forever […]
Dear Pappa, I don’t know if I miss you
I feel pain every time I remember you, or see something you loved or hated or some random incident I know you would have commented about. Sometimes I know exactly what you would have said. I know the look on your face and the tone of your voice just like you were sitting next to […]
Open Letter to a Doctor: Dear Doctor, I am More Than a Disease
Dear Doctor, I am your patient. I am more than a disease, a number or a problem. I have a name. I may be 150000th patient to you. But you are the only ONE to me. I also have feelings, intelligence, passions and dreams for my life ahead. Like lakhs of people out there, I depend […]
Hyderabad Movie Theaters; A Faded Memory Now
Here’s a list of some of the iconic standalone theatres in Hyderabad that have faded into oblivion. Hope this brings back some good old memories… Yakut Mahal Theater – Developed during Nizam in 1934. 1952 movie like Aan (first full color) was exhibited here. They say, Nizam and his family used to watch movies here. There […]
A Tale of Hope in Adversity
I was severely sick and hospitalised after positive results of the COVID-19 test in February 2021. I got up slowly from my hospital bed, leaned into the washbasin and splashed some water on my face. Suddenly, I was coughing uncontrollably, gasping for my breath. Dont know what caused this reaction… whether it was lung infection, exertion […]